Nadir View of Change in Elevation over Greenland with a Blue/Yellow Color Scale

Changes in the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets are critical in quantifying forecasts for sea level rise. Since its launch in January 2003, the ICESat elevation satellite has been measuring the change in thickness of these ice sheets. This image of Greenland shows the changes in elevation over the Greenland ice sheet between 2003 and 2006. Gray areas indicate no change in elevation. The white regions indicate a slight thickening, while the blue and purple shades indicate a thinning of the ice sheet.